preliminary sketches

In as long as I have been honing my mural skills, I've long had a debate with myself about how to present or even render preliminary sketches. I've done paintings, pencil sketches, colored pencil, and even watercolor pencil. I've come to the conclusion that for me, the colored pencils work just fine.
For our sweet woodland nursery, we've chosen the paint color and are ready to execute the mural. This particular design is broken up into several small murals at the baseboard around the room. As I do with all my murals, I sketched a small example in colored pencil for the client's approval. If I have a client who needs more help visualizing the finshed product I will paint a small example on canvas for an additional fee. I do direct my clients to my website to have them look at previous work to get an idea of what I am capable of. This usually takes care of any apprehension that may arise from the pencil sketches. Here is the preliminary drawing and the mural as finished today. I'll be adding flowers and butterflies in a couple days.

These cute little racoons turned out pretty much like the drawing, but better. I think it is up to the individual artist to choose how the preliminary drawings are done. Of course, each client is different and some need a little extra visual help.

choosing a paint color for a child's room

In getting ready for this sweet little nursery mural, the homeowner is painting the room themselves which is something I almost always have them do. It is pretty common for a homeowner to choose a color for the room, paint it, then commission me to paint a mural on top of their chosen paint color. Every once in a while I run into the issue of my client being unhappy with the color of paint they decided upon for the base.

I always like to tell my client's that there is no need to panic when you've painted a color that you don't particularly like. It is only paint after all and as I have discussed with my favorite helper (my dad) there isn't a mistake that can't be fixed. Aside from extra labor to paint over the room again, paint is quite inexpensive and in the long run it is better to change the color than to live with one you aren't happy with, especially if you are investing in a lovely mural to go over it.

With this particular room, the new mom and grandmom chose a nice neutral yellow color. They were very diligent in their color choosing, getting different samples and painting them on foam core, checking them in the room in different spots. This is a fine way of doing it, however, I always tell people first lets look at what fabrics you are using for the bedding, chairs, curtains etc. Most new moms have chosen a bedding set as soon as they found out they were carrying their little bundle of joy. When my client asked me to come and tell me what I think of the color and that she isn't sure about it, I was happy to oblige. the room was only just painted around the closet and apparently Grandmom stopped there because this color wasn't turning out quite as expected. My first question to my client was "can I see the bedding"?
It turns out that they hadn't even thought about that. It's a common mistake and unless you've painted a hundred rooms (or even a couple) and made those mistakes yourself, you won't know. We chose a new yellow today from the bedding and went from lemony to buttery, sounds like a small difference, but it makes a big change. We will be starting off fresh on Tuesday with our woodland nursery. I'll be giving a play by play of this one, stay tuned.

Children's murals and me.

This is my first post on my new blog and I'm excited to get started. It is my hope to inspire others to create something from nothing and to follow through. Please remember that you are your own worst critic and that you will not please everybody.
I have been painting walls now for six years and have grown with every mural or faux finish that I have completed. I talk about following through with projects because I used to be the queen of unfinished artwork. I think it took a lot of coaxing from friends and coworkers to bring out the completer in me. I am happy to say that I've never left a client hanging. I won't talk about how I can't decide on the 3 paint colors I've put up in random shapes on the wall in my own bathroom, however.
I started my career by painting a mural for a coworker's daughter when I was about 6 months pregnant with my second child. It was nothing fancy and of course I look back at it now and think "Man, have I come a long way." I was addicted to painting on walls from that mural on. It may have been all the wonderful Bosnian food my friend's mother made a piggy little pregnant girl, but I had an itch to find more people to work for every since then.
I have done murals (and faux finishes) for many adults, but I have to say that I absolutely love to do a mural for children. I find such great satisfaction in creating a new world for a child, something that they will live in for a long time and remember for their entire life. Kids are absolutely the most appreciative of clients even with the smallest of butterflies or the simplest truck, they exude absolutely pure adoration for something created especially with them in mind. I marvel at their exact requests and their ability to explain what they would like to see in their room. Often certain things would visually be more interesting one way and as I chat with a child to explain that to them it always amazes me at how visionary they can be.
I have a soft spot for nurseries and have done quite a few. It is an honor to be a part of something so important personal in a couple's life as the creation of a room that their unborn child will grow up in. It is always a challenge to fashion a design that will grow with the child and still be interesting at the age of 4 or 5. I always tell my expecting clients that I make them the priority and will work them in anytime to ensure that the room is ready in plenty of time. I think they appreciate that. I am now in the process of designing another nursery for a sweet little premie who caught her parents unready. As most babies do, she'll be sleeping with Mom and Dad for quite a while, so we are in no hurry to get the room finished. I'll post pics from that room when I have them.
In the meantime, I've got a lot of designs under my belt and available for viewing on my website. www.nataliegorden.com